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Introduction.
A. At night, it is impossible to see
some stars by looking directly at them
B. One of life’s ironies is that we
get some things by giving them up.
1. A Scrooge becomes
"richer" by giving away some of his money.
C. Mt. 16:25 contains an important
principle.
Body.
I. Man is a dual being: Both Temporal
and Eternal.
A. There is not only this life
"under the sun" (Ecclesiastes
1:3), but at death "the dust will return
to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes
12:7).
B. The same contrast appears in other
passages.
1. "And do not fear those who
kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew
10:28).
2. "For bodily exercise profits
a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life
that now is and of that which is to come" (1
Timothy 4:8).
C. The question we all want an answer
to is: how can we get the best out of both worlds?
II. We only get the true good out of
this life when we give priority to the next.
A. Ironically, the answer to the
question about "life under the sun" in Ecclesiastes
1:3 is the answer given
in 12:13-14,
which has to do only indirectly with "life under the sun".
1. A godly concern for the life to
come is the way to "love life and see good days" right now - 1
Peter 3:10-12. Cf. Psalms
34:11-16.
2. We get the full meaning and
enjoyment out of this life only when we cease to make it our ultimate pursuit
— by de-emphasizing this life, we get not less of it, but more.
B. We get the best out of this life
when we achieve it "serendipitously."
1. Serendipity = the faculty of
making fortunate and unexpected discoveries by accident.
III. In this regard, it is dangerous
to be too "Conservative".
A. Conservative = "tending to
favor the preservation of the existing order and to regard proposals for change
with distrust"
1. With money, as with many other
things, the surest way to "impoverish" oneself is to be too concerned
about holding on to what one has got. Consider Scrooge!
2. The man who "plays it
safe" at all costs — with no higher objective than to protect his
holdings — is among the "cowardly" (Revelation
21:8).
B. It is possible to have such a
tight grip on life "under the sun" that we lose all that life really
is.
IV. Jesus promises greater things to
those who will risk the lesser for him.
A. The context of Matthew 16:25 is Peter’s
objection to the Lord’s death, and the Lord’s prediction that the apostles
must face martyrdom as well as He.
B. In effect, the Lord was saying to
the apostles:
1. The time will come when you will have to renounce Me to stay
alive. If you do this, however, the thing you will have saved will hardly be
worth the name "life."
2. On the other hand, if you will go so far as to
die rather than deny Me, you will find what life really is.
C. The general principle applies not
only to life itself, but anything we consider important in life. Consider these
examples:
1. Comfort.
2. Security.
3. Family.
4. Reputation.
5. Wealth.
6. Pleasure.
7. Happiness.
D. With anything of value to us, if
we will put following Christ above what the world calls by that name, we will
find ourselves gaining the thing that deserves that name in the deepest and
truest sense.
E. The more we risk the lesser
quality, the more we gain the greater - 2
Corinthians 4:16.
Conclusion.
A. Getting the best out of this world
is a little like holding a wet bar of soap: it will slip away from us if we hold
on too tightly!
B. Like the star that can best be
seen by looking at something else, the best of this life comes to us when we
make the life to come our chief pursuit.
C. "Many who are first will be
last, and the last first" (Mark
10:29-31).
D. The Christian never gives up
anything without gaining something superior.
E. "But what things were gain to
me, these I have counted loss for Christ. But indeed I also count all things
loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I
have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain
Christ" (Philippians
3:7-8).
-- Don Treadway, January 2002 --
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